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Wednesday, 23 December 2015

Spotify Takes Command of In-Car Music Listening

New Tesla deal might put broadcast radio in the shadow

Tesla's Model S electric car series will now ship with Spotify Premium integration, replacing former music partner Rdio, in Europe, Australia and Hong Kong. Current Model S owners will also benefit from the feature thanks to an over-the-air software upgrade, according to The Telegraph.

Existing Premium Spotify accounts can be linked to the vehicle to listen back to favoured playlists, radio stations and artists. Drivers will be able to choose tracks from Spotify's 30 million-strong back catalogue through voice search once the driver has pressed a voice control button on the steering wheel of new models, or through the touch screen display.

The car radio has not changed much at all, so what we're doing with Tesla represents the future, Jonathan Tarlton, senior manager for Automotive Business Development at Spotify, said. Tesla owners will be able to access a full premium experience, free from adverts.

Tarlton confirmed that Spotify's ongoing partnership with Uber would continue in the wake of the announcement, and hinted at future car system integration projects. The new partnership is the most recent in a long line of automotive companies for Spotify, who has previously worked with BMW, Ford and Mini.

Facts

Spotify, launched in October 2008, is a Swedish commercial music streaming, podcast and video service that provides digital rights management-restricted] content from record labels and media companies. Music can be browsed or searched by artist, album, genre, playlist, or record label. Spotify operates under a freemium business model, with two music streaming tiers: Spotify Free (160kbit/s) and Spotify Premium (up to 320kbit/s). In June 2015 Spotify had more than 75 million active users, including about 20 million paid users.